Mayor B S Sathyanarayana, who has been holding office for seven months, is likely to approach the High Court if the State government plans to curtail his tenure.
In March, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana wrote a letter to the Principal Secretary to the Urban Development Department seeking clarification on the mayor’s tenure.
In his letter, Lakshminarayana said that according to Sections 10 (2) and 11 (5) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, the mayor, deputy mayor, standing committee members and chairpersons have a tenure of one year. He said as the current officials were elected on different days, their terms should end one year from the first council meeting. This falls in April.
On April 4, Sathyanarayana wrote to the additional chief secretary that if Lakshminarayana’s recommendation is implemented, his tenure will be cut short. He also pointed out that though the elections to the council were conducted in April in 2010, in subsequent years, these elections were conducted after April. He said Section 10 (2) of KMC Act states that the tenure of the mayor and deputy mayor will be one year from the day they take charge.
Sathyanarayana told Express that he was waiting for the government’s reply. “If the reply is in favour of curtailing my tenure, I will have to approach the court,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lakshminarayana said the issue is pending before the Chief Minister. “He has to see the file and reply. We will work accordingly.”